The head of the Australian Tennis Association believes it will be ‘tough’ for tennis to resume in the coming weeks due to the global nature of the sport.
Craig Tiley, who is also the tournament director of the Australian Open, has told The Sydney Morning Herald that he was unsure if another grand slam tournament could be played this year. Both the ATP and WTA Tours have been suspended until June due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A period that is likely to be extended with Wimbledon reportedly set to announce that their tournament will be cancelled on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, both the ATP and WTA are reconstructing their calendars to see when they will be able to resume play again and what tournaments will be included. Recently the French Tennis Federation (FFT) moved the French Open to the week after the US Open. A move that has prompted criticism from many.
However Tiley is sceptical as to if either major event could take place later this year due to the worldwide travel restrictions. The heads of the men’s and women’s tour have recently said they were hopeful but unsure as to when tournaments will get underway again.
“My personal view is I think for tennis to come back this year is going to be tough,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“It relies on global travel, and I think that’s probably the last thing that’s going to come back. I think sports that have a domestic focus are in a strong position and sports that have a global focus are more challenged.”
Despite the bleak outlook, Tiley is optimistic that the Australian Open will be able to get underway on time. The major is set to take place during January 18-31. The last time the Australian Open didn’t take place was back in 1986 due to the changing of dates. The event moved from their December slot to January.
“We’re looking at that right now,” he said. “But we’re planning running the AO 2021 and planning on having a great season.
“We’ve got to plan for the worst and hope for the best. Tomorrow morning we [could] wake up and there is some miracle cure or some concoction of drugs that really helps, or they’re on a path to a vaccine. [But] from all the literature you read, it doesn’t seem likely in the immediate future.
“What I want to do as an organisation [is] I want to plan for it being really difficult for people to be travelling this year from country to country. I think within the country will be fine. [When] you can travel globally is when tennis can come back, from a pro level. From a local level, we can start right away and that’s what we would be focused on at the beginning.”
Tiley has been the head of Tennis Australia since 2013.
